Referring to FIG. 1, conventional bone marrow harvesting devices typically include a straight and rigid Jamshidi needle 20, which typically defines an elongate hollow tube 22 having a cutting tip 24 at a distal end, a handle at an opposed proximal end (not shown), and a syringe or other suitable receptacle that is in fluid communication with the tube 22. During operation, a trocar is typically driven through the hard cortex of a target bone 30, and the needle 20 is then inserted through a cannulation of the trocar and into the cancellous portion 28 of the bone 30. A negative pressure is induced in the needle 20 to aspirate bone marrow 26 from the cancellous portion 28 of the target bone 30 through the needle 20 and into the receptacle.
It has been found that rigid bone marrow harvesting needles stand the risk of inadvertently puncturing the cortical wall of the target bone during advancement through the cancellous portion of the target bone, particularly when the bone marrow harvesting needle is being driven along the cancellous portion of a curved region of the target bone. What is desired is a bone marrow harvesting device that is configured to aspirate bone marrow from a target bone more reliably than conventional bone marrow harvesting devices.